Where Are They Now: Former Hawks, Fantasy Favorites

By WBH, 11/07/18, 1:30PM CST

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Players like Joe Pavelski and Brock Boeser led your team to memorable successes when they were Waterloo Black Hawks. They can still do the same thing all these years later for your fantasy hockey team.

Earlier this week, NHL.com ranked Pavelski 72nd and Boeser 75th, among the most valuable players in fantasy hockey. According to the site’s experts, “rankings are based on past production and expectations for the rest of the season in standard Yahoo leagues.” They are updated weekly.

For good measure, Zach Sanford and Brandon Montour finished just outside the top 200.

Hockey fans around the globe are very familiar with the value consistently delivered by Pavelski after he has skated for more than a decade in San Jose. Boeser’s sensational rookie season also created excitement, with a late-season back injury serving as the only thing to stand between the 21-year-old and 30 goals in 2018/19. A recent NHL.com Fantasy note suggests that there might be even more optimism for this season:

“Last season's Calder Trophy runner-up Brock Boeser and this season's favorite Elias Pettersson have come together with left wing Nikolay Goldobin to form one of the most dangerous trios in the NHL. [Pettersson’s] playmaking ability has sparked the play of Boeser, who has two goals and three assists in four games since Vancouver Canucks coach Travis Green united the two on a line. “

At the outset of the season, the two former Waterloo scoring stars were locked in by Fantasy owners everywhere. Both were drafted in 100 percent of Yahoo leagues; Pavelski was picked in the fourth round on average and Boeser was claimed in the sixth. For good measure, Montour was also snagged across the board in approximately the 11th round.

There are still likely Black Hawks out there on the waiver wire, however.

Even after a career-high 25 goals in 2017/18, Craig Smith was chosen in just seven percent of Yahoo leagues. Sanford was a popular pickup when he came roaring into the St. Louis Blues lineup after an early season call up. Vinnie Hinostroza might be a sleeper as he adjusts to his new team in Arizona.

A short burst of NHL scoring success for any of those Waterloo alumni could have a remarkable consequence: suddenly the Black Hawk alumnus you’ve been following for years through the USHL, college, and the minor leagues might become the new favorite player of a Fantasy Sports fan thousands of miles away.